Described below is a motor vehicle having multiple antennas and at least one communication device that is configured to provide at least one communication service for sending transmission information associated with the respective communication service and/or for receiving received information associated with the respective communication service via in each case at least one of the antennas for a user and/or at least one further motor vehicle component, wherein the motor vehicle has, for each of the antennas, an associated antenna circuit that is used for converting an analog received signal received from the antenna into digital received data associated with the respective antenna circuit and/or for converting digital transmission data associated with the respective antenna circuit into an analog transmission signal supplied to the associated antenna, wherein the communication device is configured to send the transmission information by generating the transmission data associated with at least one of the antenna circuits on the basis of the transmission information and transmitting the transmission data to the respectively associated antenna circuit and to receive a piece of received information by receiving the received data associated with the antenna circuit or at least one further instance of the antenna circuits and providing the received information on the basis of the received data, wherein the communication device is configured to take an operating parameter of the communication device as a basis for selecting one or more of the antennas for sending the transmission information and/or for receiving the received information, the number of antennas used by the communication service being variable over time.
In motor vehicles, a multiplicity of communication services need to be provided. Firstly, communication devices, for example mobile radio devices integrated in the vehicle, need to be provided for users. Secondly, a multiplicity of assistance systems send or receive information. By way of example, multiple antennas need to be used to receive GPS signals, and some driver assistance systems require vehicle-to-vehicle communication or vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. It is therefore necessary to provide antennas for the applicable communication services on the motor vehicle.
Antennas on motor vehicles may be realized as standalone electronic components that are mounted on or integrated in existing structures such as windows, exterior mirrors, spoilers or bumpers. Controllers providing a respective service are connected to the active antennas via radio-frequency lines in star form. As the number of communication services provided increases, the required number of antennas and the amount of radio-frequency wiring increase. This results in a high level of production outlay for the manufacture of the motor vehicle, increases the motor vehicle weight and needs additional installation space in the motor vehicle.
The document EP 0 924 864 A2 discloses a digital radio system having a multiplicity of modules. A digital signal processor is connected to the inputs and outputs, for example to antenna modules, via digital data connections.
A distributed architecture for receiving and sending RF signals is known from the document US 2014/0 044 026 A1. At the reception end, multiple RF signals can be combined to produce a multiplexed signal. This signal can subsequently be split into multiple information signals.
A method for digitally receiving a signal is known from the document WO 02/052 774 A2. A digital broadcast radio receiver in a vehicle includes a plurality of antennas and a number of receiver elements that corresponds to the number of antennas. An analog/digital converter of the respective receiver element is used to digitize the signal of the respective antenna directly.
The document US 2014/0 153 674 A1 relates to a distributed radio communication network. A first and a second gateway are each used to receive at least portions of data of a network node.
The document US 2014/0 243 033 A1 discloses a distributed antenna system. A device for routing data streams can combine data streams received via separate electrooptical converters to produce a transmission data stream that can be transmitted via an antenna device.